Perceptions of national diasporas language policy in Kazakhstan

Abstract

This article aims to present the situation of the Russian and Tatar diasporas in Kazakhstan under the influence of the language policy of the state. During Soviet period he Russian language prevailed over the Kazakh language in the Republic. The Kazakh language unlike Russian was elective course in schools, public administrations exclusively used the Russian language in most regions of the country. Since independence in 1991 Kazakhstan builds language policy in order to dominate the Kazakh language in all spheres of social life. According to the Constitution of Kazakhstan only Kazakh is the state language. Since the end of the 1990s, all public sector jobs require knowledge of Kazakh. At the same time, more national minorities don't understand the state language. The current language policy contributes to the emergence of latent ethnic tensions and increases immigration sentiment among ethnic minorities. Some Russians and Tatar views this police as ethnic discrimination.